CANBERRA: Authorities in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) have granted environmental approval for SunCable's Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) project, the world's largest renewable energy and transmission initiative, reported Xinhua.
The NT government and NT Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) announced on Tuesday (July 16) the principal environmental approval for the project. AAPowerLink plans to supply renewable energy to Darwin and Singapore via a 4,300km undersea cable starting in the early 2030s.
Over two stages of development, SunCable aims to develop the world's largest renewable energy precinct and deliver up to four gigawatts (GW) of electricity to Darwin and 1.75GW to Singapore.
According to SunCable the AAPowerLink is the world's largest renewable energy and transmission project in development.
Electricity will be generated and stored at a solar farm with a generation capacity of up to 10GW in the Barkly region of the NT over 600 km south of Darwin before being transmitted to Darwin and Singapore.
Environmental approval has been granted for the generation and storage site, a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line from the precinct to Darwin, a Darwin converter station, and an undersea HVDC cable from the converter to the end of Australian territorial waters at the border with Indonesia.
Cameron Garnsworthy, managing director of SunCable, said in a statement that the approval would provide significant momentum to the project.
"SunCable is founded with the belief that Australia can lead the world's energy transition," he said.
"AAPowerLink presents a unique opportunity for the Northern Territory to be at the forefront of this global shift through the development of its world-class renewable energy resources to supply customers in Darwin and Singapore with 24/7 green electricity."
SunCable estimates the project will deliver more than 20 billion Australian dollars (US$13.4 billion) in economic value to the NT during the construction period and the first 35 years of operation.
The AAPowerLink was granted major project status by the NT government in 2019 and by the federal government in 2020. - Bernama-Xinhua
